''Exposcit Debitum'' (Latin for ''The Duty requires'') is the title of the

Papal bull A papal bull is a type of public decree, letters patent, or charter issued by the pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the leaden Seal (emblem), seal (''bulla (seal), bulla'') traditionally appended to authenticate it. History Papal ...

(or 'Apostolic Letter') that gave a second and final approval to the foundation of the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

(the Jesuits). It was issued by Pope Julius III on 21 July 1550. It replaced '' Regimini militantis Ecclesiae'' of 1540. The structure of the text is the same but, based on 10 years experience, some modifications were introduced: #the limitation to 60 members was dropped; #it allowed the admission of Coadjutors, that is: zealous but uneducated

priests A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, ...

(spiritual coadjutors) and competent lay people desirous to offer their life for an apostolic service (temporal coadjutors) The temporal coadjutors have always taken the same three vows of religious life, and are nowadays called 'Jesuit Brothers';''Exposcit Debitum'' at jesuitportal.bc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/1550_Formula.pdf. Retrieved 15 December 2017. #''Defence of the faith'' is added to its ''Propagation'' as an aim of the Society of Jesus (the 10 years separating this text to the first approval, have been enough for St

Ignatius of Loyola Ignatius of Loyola ( ; ; ; ; born Íñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola; – 31 July 1556), venerated as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Basque Spaniard Catholic priest and theologian, who, with six companions, founded the religious order of the S ...

to realize how dangerous for the Catholic faith was the rapid progress of

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

). ''Exposcit Debitum'' is still the referential papal document, a sort of foundational chart, for whatever deliberation takes place on the identity and mission of the Jesuits in the world of today.

References

Bibliography

*(Text in Latin): ''Constitutiones Societatis Iesu'', Romae, 1937, pp.xxiii-xxxiii. *Aldama, Antonio de. ''The Constitutions of the Society of Jesus: The Formula of the Institute'', Notes for a Commentary, trans. Ignacio Echániz. St. Louis: The Institute of Jesuit Sources, 1990, pp. 2–23. *(Text in ANSSish): Ganss, George (ed), ''The Constitutions of the Society of Jesus'', St Louis (USA), 1970, pp. 63–72. {{Jesuits Society of Jesus Papal bulls associated with Jesuit history Documents of Pope Julius III 1550 works 16th-century papal bulls 1550 in Christianity